Micah 5:2 " But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [Too] little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

2. Beth-lehem Ephratah--
(Ge 48:7),
or, Beth-lehem Judah; so called to distinguish it from Beth-lehem in
Zebulun. It is a few miles southwest of Jerusalem. Beth-lehem means
"the house of bread"; Ephratah means "fruitful": both names
referring to the fertility of the region.
though thou be little among--though thou be scarcely large enough to be reckoned among, &c. It
was insignificant in size and population; so that in
Jos 15:21,
&c., it is not enumerated among the cities of Judah; nor in the list in
Ne 11:25,
&c. Under Rehoboam it became a city:
2Ch 11:6,
"He built Beth-lehem."
Mt 2:6
seems to contradict Micah, "thou art not the least," But really
he, by an independent testimony of the Spirit, confirms the prophet,
Little in worldly importance, thou art not least (that is, far
from least, yea, the very greatest) among the thousands, of
princes of Judah, in the spiritual significance of being the birthplace
of Messiah
(Joh 7:42).
God chooses the little things of the world to eclipse in glory its
greatest things
(Jud 6:15;
Joh 1:46;
1Co 1:27, 28).
The low state of David's line when Messiah was born is also implied
here.
thousands--Each tribe was divided into clans or
"thousands" (each thousand containing a thousand families: like our old
English division of counties into hundreds), which had their
several heads or "princes"; hence in
Mt 2:6
it is quoted "princes," substantially the same as in Micah, and
authoritatively explained in Matthew. It is not so much this thousand
that is preferred to the other thousands of Judah, but the Governor or
Chief Prince out of it, who is preferred to the governors of all the
other thousands. It is called a "town" (rather in the Greek,
"village"),
Joh 7:42;
though scarcely containing a thousand inhabitants, it is ranked among
the "thousands" or larger divisions of the tribe, because of its being
the cradle of David's line, and of the Divine Son of David. Moses
divided the people into thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, with
their respective "rulers"
(Ex 18:25;
compare
1Sa 10:19).
unto me--unto God the Father
(Lu 1:32):
to fulfil all the Father's will and purpose from eternity. So the Son
declares
(Ps 2:7; 40:7, 8;
Joh 4:34);
and the Father confirms it
(Mt 3:17; 12:18,
compare with
Isa 42:1).
God's glory is hereby made the ultimate end of redemption.
ruler--the "Shiloh," "Prince of peace," "on whose shoulders the
government is laid"
(Ge 49:10;
Isa 9:6).
In
2Sa 23:3,
"He that ruleth over men must be just," the same Hebrew
word is employed; Messiah alone realizes David's ideal of a ruler. Also
in
Jer 30:21,
"their governor shall proceed from the midst of them"; answering
closely to "out of thee shall come forth the ruler," here
(compare
Isa 11:1-4).
goings forth . . . from everlasting--The plain antithesis of this
clause, to "come forth out of thee" (from Beth-lehem), shows that
the eternal generation of the Son is meant. The terms convey the
strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrewlanguage is capable (compare
Ps 90:2;
Pr 8:22, 23;
Joh 1:1).
Messiah's generation as man coming forth unto God to do His will on
earth is from Beth-lehem; but as Son of God, His goings forth
are from everlasting. The promise of the Redeemer at first was
vaguely general
(Ge 3:15).
Then the Shemitic division of mankind is declared as the quarter in
which He was to be looked for
(Ge 9:26, 27);
then it grows clearer, defining the race and nation whence the
Deliverer should come, namely, the seed of Abraham, the Jews
(Ge 12:3);
then the particular tribe, Judah
(Ge 49:10);
then the family, that of David
(Ps 89:19, 20);
then the very town of His birth, here. And as His coming drew nigh, the
very parentage
(Mt 1:1-17;
Lu 1:26-35; 2:1-7);
and then all the scattered rays of prophecy concentrate in Jesus, as
their focus
(Heb 1:1, 2).

Micah
1:1-3 - The word of the LORD that came to Micah the
Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of
Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all
ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let
the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy
temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and
will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

Micah 5:2
- But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth
unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth
[have been] from of old, from everlasting.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Micah
Hebrew Name -
Mikah"Who is like Yahweh"
Greek Name - Micha (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Micah (According to Tradition)
Date - 750 BC Approximately
Theme - The Word Micah saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem
Types and Shadows - In Micah Jesus is the king from Bethlehem

Summary of The Book of Micah

Micah prophesied about the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions that would cause
the fall of both Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel) and
Jerusalem (capital of the southern kingdom of Judah). The word of the Lord which
came from Micah was in the form of a lawsuit by God, with Micah as the
prosecutor, and the mountains and hills (the high places of idolatry) as
the silent judges. Mica proclaimed that "her wounds are incurable" because of
the corruption of the people. He goes on to describe the leaders as "butchering
the people." In Micah 5:2 is the great verse that proclaims the birthplace of
the Messiah who comes from Eternity, born in the city of Bethlehem, the least
among the cities of Judah.

Micah was called the
"Morasthite" because he was originally from the city of Moresheth, sometimes called
Moresheth-gath (Micah 1:14), because it was located in the southwestern portion
of Judah knew the Philistine city of Gath.

Micah was also mentioned in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:18) as having prophesied
during the reign of Hezekiah in Judah. The book of Micah begins
by saying that he was prophesying during the time of Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah. The time period that these three kings of Judah
reigned was from
about 751 to 687 BC. Micah might have been directly responsible
for helping to bring revival in Judah, especially during the reign of
King Hezekiah. Micah was also a
contemporary of the prophet Isaiah in Judah and the prophet Hosea in Israel.
Some have supposed him to have been a disciple of Isaiah. That
there was some contact between the two seems evident from the
practically identical passages in Isaiah 2:24 and Micah 4:1-3.

Interesting Note: because of the practically identical
passages in Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:24 some have believed
that Micah was either a disciple of Isaiah, or heavily
influenced by his prophecies.

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Micah

Micah's message was directed to Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah,
who was responsible for the
corruption which had spread over the two kingdoms. Micah 1 announces the doom that
is to befall Samaria for her idolatry. Micah 2 is a message of woe for the ruling
class, because of their oppression of the poor. In this chapter Micah records
the attempts of these men to do away with his preaching (Micah 2:6,
11). The sins of the ruling classes, as well as the false prophets, and the priests, are dealt
with in Micah 3.

The tone of the Micah's prophecy shifts abruptly in the opening verses of
Micah 4, as
Micah pictures the future glory of Jerusalem, or Zion. In Micah 4:9, however, he
suddenly continues his previous message of impending doom. A remarkable prophecy is contained
in Micah 4:10, as Babylon is named as the conqueror of Judah although, at this time,
Assyria was the leading power and Judah by no means appeared safe from her
threats. About 100 years later, however, the prophecy was fulfilled as Judah,
having survived the Assyrian conquests, was overrun by the forces of Babylon.
Another well-known prophecy is contained in Micah 5:2, where it is stated that a ruler
for Israel "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," will
come out of Bethlehem. When Herod inquired of the scribes as to the birthplace
of Jesus, this prophecy was cited as having been fulfilled (Matt. 2: 1-6). Micah 6 and 7 are a continuation of the picture of moral corruption and resultant
punishment, but with an assurance that God will show compassion for Israel and
will allow a remnant to flourish again, thus keeping the promise which he had
made to Abraham (Micah 7:20 ).

Many Thanks to The British Museum, The Louvre, The Oriental Institute, Dr. Amihai Mazar, Dr. Dan Bahat, Dr. Craig Johnson, Yaacov Kuc, Chuck Smith, Jim Darden, Ron Haaland, The Translators of the KJV, and many others including Jesus, the Word of God.